In general, a relay is wired through a socket in some cases. Examples of such a socket include one described in EP1052731. That socket is equipped with: a socket body configured to be mounted on a board and having a mounting part on which a relay is to be mounted from a predetermined mounting direction; and a holding lever supported on the mounting part of the socket body and configured to hold a relay mounted on the mounting part.
The holding lever of the socket has: a pair of support walls, which is disposed to sandwich, in a width direction of the relay, the mounting part to which a rectangular parallelepiped relay can be mounted, and on which protrusions are provided facing each other; an operation part provided on the ends, of the pair of support walls, distal to the socket body, the operation part provided across between the pair of support walls; and a rotation shaft provided on the ends of the pair of support walls proximal to the socket body, the rotation shaft provided across between the pair of support walls. In this arrangement, the holding lever is configured to rotate, around the rotation shaft, between a retreat position at which the relay mounted at a mounting position of the mounting part can be removed and a holding position at which the relay positioned at the mounting position can be held.
In the above-described socket, a relay is held by the protrusions each provided on each of the pair of support walls or by a stopper extending toward the socket body from the operation part.
However, because the protrusions each provided on each of the pair of support walls are too small and because, in the plan view from the mounting direction, the stopper provided on the operation part is positioned at the end part, of the relay, in the longitudinal direction, the force for holding the relay in the mounting position is weak. Thus, when a vibration or impact is applied to the socket mounted at the mounting position of the relay, the relay can unintentionally fall off from the mounting position.